Setting Your Family’s New Years Fitness Goals

Getting fit and staying fit is quickly becoming something families want to do together. When you sit with your family this year to make your New Year’s fitness goals, there are a couple key factors to keep in mind to ensure you are successful. Setting goals for each season, attainable goals, fun for the family goals and a larger yearly goal will help your family have both short term and long term fitness fun to look forward to. You can set these goals independent of nutrition goals, or include some nutrition goals with your fitness goals. Take an evening as a family and discuss what goals you want to complete for the New Year.

Seasonal Goals

Short term goals are important to keep you motivated. By setting goals for winter, spring, summer and fall you can have something to work towards in each season. Winter goals might need to be indoors; they could include working out at local rock climbing club, or swimming one mile at your local gym. Work as a group and find a goal or activities that everyone can work towards. Include weekly workout sessions together to help everyone get into shape so they can complete the seasonal goal.

As the weather gets nice, you can look at local outdoor events to complete as a family. You could do a 5k run/walk race, swim across a local lake, or hike a nearby trail. Your family’s goals will be as unique as your family. Discuss everyone’s ideas and work together to choose the perfect goal. If no one can agree, you could also try writing down that seasons goals and putting them into a hat. Have the youngest person in the family draw the goal for the season.

Attainable

It is important to make your family’s goal attainable for all members of the family. This is a time to grow and build your family, so you want to make sure the goal is not too difficult for any family member. Keep in mind the physical limitations, age and abilities of everyone in your family.

Fun for the Whole Family

Everyone will have to agree on the family goal, but sometimes individuals will have to compromise to make the rest of the family happy. Make sure the goal you set does not make any family members uncomfortable. If your goal is to swim across the lake and one family member cannot swim, that goal would make them feel scared and would not be attainable. Think about making your goal something that will be fun and enjoyable for every member of the family.

Yearly Goals

The big goal of the year should be something big that each individual can contribute to. Maybe you all want to compete in a mud run or a local triathlon. Yearly goals can be small or large, but should be something that requires everyone to work on their fitness goals for the year. Yearly goals could also be individualize to include goals that each family member would like to set for everyone. Setting up a family decathlon or family obstacle course could be a fun goal that each member could participate in. One station could be a sit up goal for the year, another station jumping rope for your goal minutes.

Nutrition is Important

As you think about your fitness goals, you could also add some nutrition goals in as well. Nutrition is such an important aspect of being healthy; it would go very well with any fitness goals you set. Consider increasing the fresh fruits your family eats, or adding more vegetables to meals. Fitness and nutrition are great goals for individuals and family’s to work on together to plan for a lifetime of happiness.